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Friday, June 8, 2012

Five people have officially thrown their hat into the political ring for the Rothesay By-election.

The election is being held after Conservative MLA Margaret-Ann Blaney vacated the seat in order to head up Efficiency NB.

The candidates are Hugh John Flemming for the Conservatives, John Wilcox for the Liberals, Dominic Cardy for the NDP, Sharon Murphy for the Green Party, and Marjorie MacMurray will be an independent candidate.

Chief Electoral Officer for Elections NB Mike Quinn tells CHSJ News there will be advance polls for the byelection on June 16th and 18th.

An anti-bullying rally will be held tomorrow in Hampton at the town's new outdoor park on Main Street starting at 11 in the morning with the theme being "Love is Louder".

Organiser Leanne Cochrane tells CHSJ News not every conflict that happens in school is bullying and the term is being misused or misunderstood. A single altercation is not bullying which, in her view, is repeated harassment or abuse.

There will be a barbeque and entertainment at the rally and an RCMP officer will talk about the ramifications of bullying and assault.

The first rally was held over the winter to show support for a girl who said she had been bullied. Cochrane tells us the girl has since changed schools.

There are 12 hundred young people, from 16 to 29, in the Saint John area suffering from some form of mental illness and that number is growing.

That word from Kim Chenier, a programme co-ordinator at the just opened Peer 126 on Duke Street in the South End which provides help and support from counsellors who have been down the same road and can speak from first hand experience.

Chenier says young people who do suffer from mental health issues don't really trust the medical system and that's why the programme, which has been based on what has successfully been done in Halifax, is as non-clinical as you can get.

The Teen Resource Centre getting a financial boost from the federal government to the tune of 30-thousand dollars.

The money will be used to hire a case manager who can offer counselling and support programs for homeless or at risk youth.

TRC Executive Director June Breau-Nason says getting a new case manager is very important as the number of teens they are serving is on the rise. She says the Oasis program had six hundred and fifty nine users.

She says the issues youth are facing are getting more complex and it's important for youth to have someone that can connect them with various resources in the community.

It looks like the end of the year before the new justice complex on Peel Plaza is fully operational.
A provincial spokesperson tells CHSJ News construction of the building is expected to be completed by October.
Once the building is handed over - the Justice Department expects it will take about two months to relocate courtrooms and offices now spread around the city to the new Saint John Law Courts complex.
Meantime - city police are expecting to move next month from city hall to the new police headquarters at Peel Plaza.

The provincial Energy and Utilities Board is being asked for an increase in the wholesale profit margins on gas and home heating fuel.
Irving Oil has filed the request for an increase of just over a cent per litre saying a lot of costs have increased since the current margins of between 5 and 6-cents per litre were set.
The company has also requested documentation filed to justify its request be kept confidential to keep the information from falling into the hands of competitors.

New home construction in the greater Saint John area continues to lag behind last year.
The latest numbers from Canada Mortgage and Housing show the number of new units started last month down 36-percent from May of last year.
And the survey shows housing starts since the first of the year off by 31-percent compared to the same period last year.
Both Fredericton and Moncton new home starts are up this year compared to last year.

A 13 year old's run to support our troops is reaching it's final leg today.

Since May 28th, Marshall Howard has been running the equivalent of a marathon during his lunch hours to raise money for the Pte. David Greenslade Memorial Bursary and the Oromocto Military Resource Centre for Youth programs in memory of his uncle.

He recently received a Diamond Jubilee medal for his efforts.

Marshall's mother, Dorothy, tells CHSJ News, the people in the town have been very supportive but unfortunately less than 500 dollars has been raised so far.

She's hoping people will come out to support her son and make a donation.

The provincial government will spend 38 million dollars over the next three years on early childhood education with 16.7 million to bring the total number of childcare spaces up to 10 thousand as well as increasing subsidies to make childcare more affordable. This follows the commitment to spend 62 million to make inclusive education better.

Ken Pike of the Provincial Association of Community Living tells CHSJ News there's alot of misinformation about how inclusive education is hurting other students when research shows it doesn't have that effect.Pike says the Association hears from families on a regular basis who want their children to be included in the classrooms of their local schools but are being met with roadblocks and discouragement.Employers will be encouraged to set up daycares for their employees.